Authors : Muhammed Tilahun, Mengistu Urge and Mekonnen Yirga
Abstract: The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of substituting commercial broiler feed with mulberry leaf meal on feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio and mortality. About 144 Cobb 500 broiler breed chicks were randomly distributed to 4 treatments in completely randomized design. Treatment diets were prepared by substituting 7.5, 15 and 22.5% of commercial broiler feed with mulberry leaf meal during the starter, grower and finisher phases. The average feed intake of broilers was affected (p<0.0001) by treatment diets where substitution of mulberry leaf meal at 7.5% and above had decreased the feed intake. Analysis of variance revealed higher (p<0.0001) weight gain in control group (M0) as compared to the other treatments. Inclusion of mulberry leaf meal up to 15% has no adverse effect on the survival rate. This study has showed that mulberry leaf meal substitution at 7.5% and more seems to have good effect on broilers carcass quality and reduction of abdominal fat that can positively affect consumer’s desire.
Muhammed Tilahun, Mengistu Urge and Mekonnen Yirga, 2019. Effect of Substituting Commercial Feed with Mulberry Leaf Meal on Performance of Broiler Chickens. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 18: 195-200.